Medicament dispenser



1950 v L. A. col-IN ET! AL 2,528,819

MEDICAIIENT DISPENSER Filed July 22, 194'? INVENTORS v 5 BY Patented Nov. 7, 1950 MEDICAMENT DISPENSER Louis Alexander Cohn, Ossining, and Albert Zola, New York, N. Y.

Application July 22; 1947, Serial No. 762,769

. 6 Claims. (01. 128F213) This invention relates generall to dispensers and more particularly to a dispenser which closes automatically and produces a relatively air tight seal.

In the medical profession and more particularly in dentistry, medicaments are subject to frequent use. The usual practice is to dip a tuft of an absorbent material, as for example cotton into a small bottle containin the medicament. This usually requires use of both hands, one for holding the bottle and the other for re-- moving the cover. Thus, for example, if a sterile instrument is in one of the users hands. placing the instrument down on a surface in order to gain access to the medicament, increases the possibility of contamin tion to the instrument. The possibility of forgetting to replace the cover on the bottle containing the medicament and exposing the medicament for long periods of time to the ambient air is an additional disadvantage of using a bottle as a means to dispense the medicament. V

It is therefore among theprincipal objects of the present invention to provide a dispenser which may be operated by contact with an instrument o ly; so that the users free hand may be otherwise occupied. I

Another object herein lies in the provision of structure of the class described which; due to its simplicity in construction, may be quickly and easily cleaned and permits convenientrefilling.

Another object herein lies in the provision of dispenser construction which permits relatively quick and easy access to the contents thereof.

Another object herein lies "in the provision of medicament dispensers in which automatic sealing occurs to form a relatively air tight vessel which excludes the surrounding air from contacting the medicament thus reducing evaporation and contamination.

Another object herein lies in the provision of a dispenser which owing to its simple construction, renders the device free'from troubled op eration and requires no adjustments.

A still further object is to provide a medica ment dispenser which is of simple and economical construction so that itv may be manufactured in large scale at relatively low cost and have a consequent wide sale and use.

These objects and other incidental ends and advantages will more fully appear in the progress of this disclosure and be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings in which similar reference characters designate corresponding throughout the several views:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view. 7

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of the device in an opened condition.

Fig. 4 is a central vertical sectional view of the device with the cover in an opened position.

Fig. 5 is a central vertical sectional view of the device showing an alternate form of guides or ways.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view partly in section as seen from the plane 6-43 on Fig. 3.

The device, generally indicated by reference character Hi, includes broadly a base element H and a cover element l2. The base element ii and cover element l2 may be molded or cast from any suitable material which is preferably chemically inert when in contact with medicaments with which the dispenser. IQ is used. EX- amples of such materials are glass, porcelain or stainless steel. Glass is .a, satisfactory material since it can be molded or cast obtaining a smooth surface, resulting in low friction on the moving surfaces. Furthermore, glass is substantially non-absorbent. 1

The base element l I is of irregular shape, best seen in Fig 3 and comprises a front wall iii, a rear wall 5?, side walls It and iii, a bottom wall 28 and an angularly disposed top surface 2!. The outer surfaces of the walls l5, ll, l8 and iii of the base I! may converge inwardly toward the bottom wall to facilitate the fabrication thereof b casting or molding. Where desired, said surfaces may be vertical. Disposed at the juncture of the outer surfaces of the side walls 18 and IE3 and the top surface 2! are a pair of guide ways 26 and 25. Each of the said Ways includes a substantially vertical surface, indicated by reference characters 3! and 32 and inclined surfaces 45 and ll, and end surfaces t and 62, respectively; The end surfaces are spaced rearwardly from the outer surface of the front wall It. Projecting laterally outward from the surface 32 and upwardly from the surface ll is a projection 23. 'Pr0jection'28 preferably extends from the outer surface of the rear wall I? forwardly' to its front surface 3!].

The base element 1 I has a cup shaped depression 34 formed by the inner surface 36 of the front wall IS, the front surface 31 of the rear wall H, inner surfaces 38 and 39 of the side walls !8 and I9, and the upper surface 40 of the bottom parts wall 26. The surfaces 36, 31, 38 and 39 converge downwardly and the surface 4|! slopes downwardly toward the surface 36. The inner surface 36 has a V-shaped groove 42 extending from the top surface 2| to the bottom surface 46 of the depression 34. The surfaces 3| and 32 of the ways 24 and 25 have a slight inward taper toward the top wall surface 2|. The tapers in the walls of the base element ease the removal of the base from the mold after the glass or other material of which it is made, has solidified. The upper edge of the rear wall I? is provided with a rabbet 22 which coacts with the cover as will more fully appear.

The cover element, generally indicated by refer ence character |2, has a body 9 and includes a 56 and a top surface 52 and an angularly disposed bottom surface 53. Extending downwardly from the side surfaces 50 and 5| and rear surface 49 and ending sufliciently behind the front surface 48 of the cover |2 to allow the cover to close completely, is the ledge 54. The ledge 54 includes side members 58 and 59 and a rear portion 65. Disposed on the forward portion 51 of the side member 59 and contacting both surfaces of the way 25 is the projection 60.

The front surface 48 is provided with a vertically arranged groove 63 leading to a depression 64 which is widened and deepened in a semiconical shape. This groove serves as a guide way when opening the cover element l2. In use the two elements which form the device are easily sterilized. Any suitable medicament such as is placed in the base element, preferably so that the top surface thereof is at a level substantially below the upper entrance to the groove 42. The cover element is placed upon the base element with the forward ends of the side members 58 and 59 abutting against the surfaces 6| and 62 and with the forward surface of the rear portion 65 of the ledge 54 against the rear surface of the rabbet 22. By virtue of the fact that the center of gravity of the cover element lies in the forward portion thereof, and because the surfaces which rub are smooth and hard, the cover element |2 automatically slides to its closed position, no additional lubrication being required which might serve to collect dirt or contaminate the contents of the base element. When it is desired to obtain some of the medicament, any suitable instrument, such as the tweezers 68, may be used to grasp or retain a pellet of absorbent material such as the cotton 69, and the instrument is brought to the cover element so that a portion of it may become engaged within'the groove 63. Downward movement of the instrument along the groove 63 will cause it to enter the depression 64, and at the same time laterally rearward pressure upon the cover element will cause the cover element to recede thereby permitting the pellet 69 to be immersed in the medicament 10. Next, the pellet may be drawn forwardly against the rear surface of the front wall l6 and compressed between the converging walls of the groove 42 (which is V-shaped in cross-section) so that excess medicament may be drained off to return to the supply in the base element. As the instrument 68 is removed, the depression 64 prevents the cover element from engaging the pellet 69 in such a manner as to pull it away from the instrument 6'8, and as soon as the instrument is clear of the cover element, the latter returns to its normally closed position.

Since the laterally exposed side walls of the cover element taper upwardly, and are disposed inwardly with respect to the upper edges of the outer surfaces of the side walls of the base element, a plurality of dispensers |IJ may be arranged in a row within a suitable tray to contain a number of different materials. The individual cover elements may be independently shifted in position without interfering with each other. While only a slight rearward movement of the cover elementl 2 is required in order to gain access to the contents of the base element, excessive rearward movement of the cover element is prevented by the projection 60 abutting against the portion 30. This prevents the cover element from being moved so far to the rear as to permit its front surface 48, a rear surface 49, side surfaces 1 .;center of gravity to lie rearwardly of the rear surface of the rear wall Turning now tothe alternate form shown in Fig. 5, for the purpose of avoiding needless repetition, parts corresponding to the prior described form are given the same reference characters with the addition of a prefix 1. The alternate form of Fig. 5 differs from the prior one princi pally in the fact that the side walls |3| and I32 of the guide grooves I24 and I25 converge downwardly, and the inner surfaces of the side members I58 and H39 are correspondingly arranged so as to produce a dovetail sliding fit. This prevents the cover element ||2 from tilting rearwardly if the center of gravity of the cover element is placed rearwardly of the rear surface of the rear wall 1.

We wish it to be understood that we do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art but any permissible change must fall within the purview of the claims in this application.

We claim:

1. A medicament dispenser comprising: a base, said base having a front wall, a cup shaped depression, a V-shaped groove in said front wall and. a pair of ways; a cover,'said cover having a pair of ledge members, said ledge membersriding in said ways.

2. A medicament dispenser comprising: a base having a depression and a guide 'way, said base including a front wall'having a V-shaped groove; a cover having a front wall and a ledge member riding on said guide way, said guide way being angularly disposed; said cover element having its center of gravity located eccentrically in the direction of downward inclination of the guide way.

3. An automatic closing medicament dispenser comprising: a base element having a depression for containing the medicament, said base element having an angularly disposed guide way; a cover element adapted in the lower position thereof to close said depression and inan elevated position thereof to clear said depression; said cover element having meanswhich-are slideably engageable with said guide way and acting under gravity to slide to its lower position; and detent means preventing the cover element from moving in a downward direction beyond its said lower closed position.

4. An automatic closing medicament dispenser comprising: a base element havinga depression for containing the medicament, said base element having a pair of angularly disposed guide ways which are located on opposite lateral sides of said depression; a cover element adapted in the lower position thereof to close said depression and in an elevated position thereof to clear said depression; said cover element having means which are slideably engageable with said guide ways and acting under gravity to slide to its lower position; and detent means preventing the cover element from moving in a downward direction beyond its said lower closed position.

5. An automatic closing medicament dispenser comprising; a unitary base element having a depression for containing the medicament, said base element having an angularly disposed guide way; a unitary cover element adapted in the lower position thereof to close said depression and in an elevated position thereof to clear said depression; said cover element having means which are slideably engageable with said guide way and acting under gravity to slide to its lower position.

6. A dispenser having a self closing cover comprising: a base element having a depression and a guide way laterally disposed with respect to said depression, said guide way downwardly sloping toward the front of said dispenser; a cover element slideably mounted on said guide way and adapted in a forward lower position thereof REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,932,429 Wellman Oct. 31, 1933 2,245,798 May June 1'7, 1941 OTHER REFERENCES Krey-Scheerer General Catalog of 1930, Krey- Scheerer Corp., 233 Spring Street, New York. (A copy is in Div. 55 of the Patent Office; page D-18 article 1 -1245.) 

